A Month before Victoria Rozenreff's Seventeenth BirthdayPRINCE COREAN Shuia Eckrett tasted the first whiplash of pain after the cherry red eyes of Victoria Rozenreff rejected his heartfelt confession. The winter breeze numbed his aching heart, but all he could feel was the glacial look of the lady he dared to love. In his almost eighteen years of existence, no one woke the curiosity in his core. No one until she stepped into the secret room of the Turvy to dare persuade him to fight for his right, something he never once cared about.Cory could still remember Victoria's flaming cherry-colored eyes. She looked so fragile for him yet she could display the courage that no knight in the empire could master. She was quite a curious thing and he was drawn to her unpredictable actions.The next thing he knew, he was already following her every move. The thoughts of her touching other men disturbed something primal inside him. It was almost a taboo feeling for the second prince who was known
Victoria kept tracing her fingers to the contours of his chest. His ragged breathing betrayed his emotions; Cory wanted to give in. But it took one glance for Corean at Tessa's location to snap himself. "I am an obsessed person. If you want to be my queen then you need to surrender your heart to me." Corean uttered those words knowing that Tessa was listening to him. The latter would report this to his brother, Cory was sure of that. Laughing from his declaration, Victoria took a step away from him. Cory immediately longed for her touch. At a good distance, Cory saw Victoria's toothy grin turned into a venomous one. He missed that look of hers. "Never forget, Prince Corean Shuia Eckrett. My hands are your saving grace. Though I think I need to educate you again so I will show you how it feels if I choose to abandon you."Taking a step towards him, Victoria grasped his neck as she whispered her words a good millimeter from his lips. Cory could smell her cheery scented breath that he w
THE INDIFFERENT look of Crown Prince Yei Lin was the first thing that Cory recognized as he entered the small abandoned house located quite far from the capital. His knights and the Ming Country's prince's knights secured the area outside as the two of them would talk inside their rendezvous point."You dare to meet me even after what you did to Tori," said Prince Yei Lin who was standing near the broken window in front of him. The way he nonchalantly crossed his arms in front of the empire's star showed that he did not respect him. If it was another situation, Cory could demand an impertinent prince in front of him to bend the knee since there was still a huge difference in their status. But Cory did not meet him for that. "I do not have the luxury of time to please you. Listen well, Prince Yei Lin. Victoria is in grave danger than she realized. As we speak, my brother plots to eliminate her by using me. Though my actions remained questionable for the past months, I came here with o
Merilla's attempt to ask again was interrupted when the door suddenly burst open. Cory was relieved to dodge another trapping question from Merilla, who was clearly not happy with the interruption of a royal knight serving under him. The knight had frantic eyes and a heaving chest. He was the one Cory assigned to watch Duke Luwen Rozenreff's movement."How dare you interrupt the meeting?" Lord Wolfgang exclaimed, clearly shocked by the sudden intrusion.The poor knight finally remembered that he was surrounded by lords and ladies from different powerful houses. Bowing nervously, his knight asked for forgiveness before shifting his attention to him, who was looking worried, an expression befitting for someone who had a lover being taken from him. In his peripheral vision, he saw how Victoria raised her brows from his reaction."Duke Luwen and Marquess Zoliel arrested Miss Tessa under the orders of King Elphaim!"Cory wondered under whose whispers his father listened. Was it his mother
The newly crowned prince of the Monakre Kingdom spat, "Why him? We can ask Duke Castaña instead! Anyone but him who betrayed Tori's expectations above all else." Venom oozed upon his words, but Cory refrained from replying to the feral prince who was beyond reason and who did not know the reasons behind Cory's actions. "Duke Castaña must not know about the young lord of House Larat playing mind games with Tori. He will immediately take action and it will draw the attention of the King. Tori worked hard for this just to be destroyed by the king's obvious favor to his firstborn. No offense, Prince Corean."Cory shrugged. It was a piece of common knowledge that his father favored the first prince as he was the only remnant of his beloved first queen. Corean never bothered with such trivial details. He was contented to keep his mother safe. But a cherry-eyed woman flipped his axis.The cerulean-eyed prince gritted his teeth. "Are you saying that the traitor from House Larat is with Tori,
CORY'S BODY went rigid after receiving Prince Yei Lin's reports. Merilla was on the move since King Elphaim sent a summons to the aristocratic faction and noble faction that he would invite the candidates to his castle. "Everything is in motion," said Cory while looking outside the windows of Monakre's pavilion."And so are the enemies. Lady Sabina Rozenreff was last seen in the Back Alley together with Lady Merill Larat," said Prince Yei Lin, who was standing behind Corean. "Are you absolutely sure about this, Prince Corean? Tori did her best to support you."Cory glanced at the crown prince. Instead of answering his question, he shrugged. "I want to see her. I can do that, right? I can be selfish just for one night, right?"Prince Yei Lin understood him. Victoria would hate him more once King Elphaim would summon them. He wanted to hold on as much as he could. "One night? I know how you always sneak into her room and watch her sleep until dawn breaks. The correct term will be your l
At the stroke of midnight, no power plays and schemes in between them. Just two people stripped with masks and cautions. Corean did not want to stop and if this continued, he knew that this would not end with a deep kiss but much more. If he listened to his heart, he would have to risk her all over again. No, he could not let it happen. Not when everything was set into motion.Every nerve of his body protested as he distanced away from Victoria. He knew that he must not cause a backlash to his plan with Prince Yei Lin. I'm sorry, Victoria. Corean thought before he gave her a mocking smile that would seal their distance forever. "In the end, you are only a woman playing politics." "Is that so? Then why are you acting like a virgin noble lady? I should be the one doing that. Besides, you are my fiancé. You own my body, your highness."Cory kneeled on the bed and grabbed her shoulders with an insulting smile. His face was a few inches above her so Victoria had to tilt her head to mee
Victoria did not see him behind her as he approached them since she was busy being curious about who was resting on his bed. Victoria walked towards the bed but was stopped midway when he spoke. "What are you doing here, Lady Victoria?"She spun in his direction. Victoria offered her sugary smile to him and his brother, and she showed the tray she was holding. "Breakfast in bed for my beloved fiancé.""How sweet of you, Lady Victoria. It makes me jealous, brother." Prince Lauren playfully nudged him which irritated him to no end. The meaning behind his words created a primal need to stake his claim to Victoria. But all he could do was scoff before walking towards his bed to pull the drapes together. "You can have her then, brother." In your dreams, Corean continued in his mind.Victoria walked to the study table to place the tray down."Too bad, Prince Corean. I have my eyes set only on you," teased Tori while smiling sweetly. He recognized her smile as a sad reaction since she was cl